Help De-worm and Nourish Haiti's Children

Dear Friends,

Imagine that 80% of our children in the U.S. were afflicted by one infection that: reduced a child's energy, impeded child growth rates, increased the abundance of learning disabilities, and led to illnesses such as dysentery and anemia.

What would we do?

Answer: Every individual, non-profit, politician, and business owner would rally together to stop the infection.

In Haiti, there is an infection that afflicts 80% of the population with dysentery, anemia, an increased abundance in learning disabilities, stunted child growth, and fatigue: intestinal parasites are the cause.  They consume up to 20% of a child's nutritional intake a day.

Nearly 80 percent of Haiti's 9.7 million population are infected with intestinal worms.  A majority of the 80% is made up of children under 14.  Regular treatment can reduce school absenteeism by 25% and increase adult earnings by over 20%, and at a cost of less than 50 US cents per child per year.

As stated earlier, the U.S. would address such an issue with cooperation, which is what the people of Haiti and International Action are doing with the Deworming Project. 

The medicine is cheap and it is very easy and safe for any adult to administer.  The only issue is, how do you coordinate a program to reach every child and person in every corner of Haiti? To solve this issue, we at International Action reached out to groups (Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local community groups, and churches) all throughout Haiti.  Our team in Haiti started making donations of albendazole (deworming medication) and trained these groups how to administer the albendazole.

It has been a great success with over 22 NGOs, local community groups, and churches participating in the program. Below is a report from one of the groups, Missions of Love, which received albendazole from us and began treating children afflicted with intestinal worms. 

Missions of Love: 

Good Shepard Orphanage- Port au Prince

Missions of Love distributed albendazole to 18 residents of the orphanage.  

Bush Clinic in Odige' - La Platte

Missions of Love held a clinic in a difficult to reach area in La Platte at a local church.  The Ministry of Love Haitian staff included an RN, Pharmacist and Physician.

87 Patients were seen and albendazole was prescribed to those who were diagnosed with intestinal worms.
 
Bel Air - Missions of Love began working with in Bel Air 16 months ago. 74 children were treated.

Attached are pictures that show the great work that Missions of Love has done over the past two months with the Deworming Project.

None of this would have been possible without a full-team effort by our board members, our staff, our partners, teachers and parents in Haiti, and you. We thank you greatly for your help.

Warm regards and deepest thanks,

The International Action Team